Dangerous Revelations
by Faolan Rei
Summary: Feng Lan has taken great precautions thus far to keep her secret from a specific someone, and has somehow succeeded. But what happens when, during a drunken escapade, she reveals her biggest in-game secret to the one person she's tried hardest to keep in the dark? How far will this person go to uncover Prince's true identity given this new piece of information?
1. Drunken Confessions

_Chapter One: Drunken Confessions_

"Cheers!" shouted the InfiniteCity gang as they brought their mugs together in a toast with a _clink_ and took hearty gulps of their ale. Prince thumped his already-empty mug on the table, wiping his mouth with his forearm while his face turned an odd shade of pink. Prince couldn't hold his alcohol, so already he was teetering over the edge of intoxication.

Lolidragon threw an arm over Prince's shoulders, laughing as she took a gulp of her own ale. "Congratulations on winning today's battle, Prince! We never doubted you," Lolidragon smiled drunkenly.

Prince chuckled and raised his mug in the air. "Another one over here!" shouted the drunken Prince with a hiccup. A gentle hand touched Prince's shoulder, and he looked up to see Gui staring down at him with worried eyes.

"Your Highness, I think you've had enough," Gui stated gently, urging Prince to leave before he made a spectacle.

"No, I haven't! I've just started! Leave me alone!" shouted Prince, downing another mug of ale as it came his way.

Gui softened. "Your Highness, you really ought to leave before you do something you'll regret in the morning."

It was then that Wicked chose to intrude on their conversation. "You heard him, Gui! Prince doesn't want to go!" Even through the drunken haze, Gui could see the rage smoldering in Wicked's eyes as he stared Gui down, which Gui returned with equal intensity.

Prince threw an arm over Wicked's shoulders, pulling him closer in an affectionate gesture that tore at Gui's heart. "See? He understands! Let's keep this party going!" Prince exclaimed loudly, to which everyone responded with a yell and a raise of their mugs.

A pained expression crossed over Gui's face, which gave Prince pause. "Prince, please. I just don't want you to get hurt," Gui whispered, loud enough for only Prince to hear. A strange feeling passed through Prince at the look on Gui's face, which only seemed to confuse him. _Come on, this is just Gui being Gui! _Prince thought to himself, shaking his head. But he couldn't ignore the hurt look on Gui's face. Sighing, Prince disentangled himself from Wicked and Lolidragon, stumbling over to Gui.

"Fine, you win. Let's go," Prince muttered, his cheeks red and his eyes bleary from alcohol consumption.

Gui instantly brightened and proceeded to march Prince out the door, much to the protest of Wicked. An evil little smirk passed over Gui's face at this small victory.

* * *

Later- much later, it seemed-after much stumbling and cursing, Prince and Gui finally managed to make it back to the Infinite Castle. The hardest part was getting the much-intoxicated Prince up the winding stairs, when all he wanted to do was lay down at the base and sleep. "Come on, we're almost there, Your Highness," Gui huffed, exhausted from half-carrying, half-dragging Prince such a long distance, and was delighted when they finally got to his living quarters and Prince was laid safely on his bed. Prince immediately snuggled into the blankets, which Gui thought was incredibly cute of His Highness. His heart warmed with love for the little elf, and he brought the blankets up around the elf warrior, worrying that Prince would catch a cold. And the hottest character in all of Second Life can't be catching colds, can he?

With Prince tucked into his bed and evidently fast asleep, Gui turned to leave Prince to his slumber. He was halted, though, when a hand shot forward and grasped his wrist. His heart jumped into his throat and he turned to see that Prince was holding Gui's hand firmly in his own, his eyes half-open.

"Gui…..don't leave. Please," Prince pleaded tiredly, his words slurred but still audible. Gui's heart threatened to beat right out of his chest, but he readily complied to His Highness's wishes. He sat by Prince's bedside, his hand still in the strong grip of the elf. _He is so beautiful. _Gui thought, his heart trembling in his breastbone. Prince smiled warmly toward the bard, and the simple gesture almost killed him. Gui urged his racing heart to quiet, without much success.

"Prince, did you need something of me?" Gui finally asked quietly when Prince didn't say anything or let go of his wrist.

"Oh….oh, wait. Where am I?" Prince slurred groggily, looking around the room with his eyes.

Gui chuckled. "We're back in your room, Prince. I brought you back here."

"You did?" Prince asked. "When did that happen?"

"I brought you home from the bar not too long ago. You had too much alcohol," Gui responded softly.

There was absolute silence for a few moments as Prince stared at Gui with those same piercing scarlet eyes that always seemed to shake Gui to the core. He inwardly trembled, and forced himself not to reach forward to touch Prince's ivory hair.

More silence. And then, "Why do you care about me so much, Gui?" Gui was taken aback by Prince's quiet question. It was so clear, not slurred in the slightest, and so outwardly random that Gui simply had to pause.

"What was that, Your Highness?"

"All I do, all I can ever do, is hurt you, and yet you still care for me," Prince slurred heavily, so much so that Gui almost didn't understand what he had said. "Why?"

Gui answered without hesitation. "Isn't the answer obvious? It is because I love you, Prince. I will always love you." Gui smiled at his handsome Prince.

A hurt, almost angry expression passed over Prince's face. "How can you love someone you know so little about? What if I'm not who you think I am?" Gui reached a gentle hand forward and brushed a wayward strand of hair out of Prince's eyes, stroking Prince's temple.

"Dear Prince. I don't care who you are in real life. Your gender, your looks, none of those matter. Because I know, deep down, that _this, _the person I see right here, is the true you."

Prince, unexpectedly, looked on the verge of tears, and swatted Gui's hand away. "God, why do you have to say things like that to me?!" Prince slurred angrily, turning in his bed so that he faced the ceiling with his hands covering his face. "Why do you have to be gay?" Gui nearly didn't catch what Prince had said, it was so muffled and slurred. But, after having time to process, he was more than a little confused.

"Prince, I don't understand what I did wrong. And what would it matter if I'm gay or not? We're both men, so wouldn't it be a _good _thing that I'm gay?" Gui tried to soothe. Prince didn't respond. He just lay there with his hands covering his face and not looking at Gui. A sudden thought struck Gui, and a sad expression crossed over his face. "Oh, this is your way of rejecting me, right? You don't _want _me to like you."

"No!" Prince replied adamantly, throwing his hands off his face and gripping his hair so hard that Gui worried Prince would pull it out by the roots. This made Gui relax in the slightest, even though he was still confused. "I care about you Gui, but I'm not who you think I am."

Gui sighed. "Your Highness, we've already gone over-"

"I'm a girl," Prince interrupted quietly, his words heavily slurred now as he edged closer and closer to exhaustion.

Gui's heart stopped, and he managed to choke out, "Y-Your Highness, you don't mean that. You don't know what you're saying." Prince shook his head, wincing at the nausea that followed, and stared Gui down with his bleary scarlet eyes.

"I _do _mean it, Gui." His voice was so heavily slurred now that Gui had trouble deciphering what it was Prince was saying. "I may be a man in Second Life, but not in real life." This really caught Gui off guard. He didn't know how to respond, what to think.

_He's drunk. That's all this is. He's speaking this way because he's drunk. _ Gui tried to calm Prince down and get him to sleep off this sudden stupor. "Prince, you're drunk and tired. Maybe if you slept a little you'd feel better." Gui tried calmly.

"No!" Prince cried. "I'm not making this up, Gui," Prince slurred. Gui decided to entertain Prince for a bit.

"Ok, so if you're a girl in real life, how are you a boy in the game? I thought that was against the rules."

Prince answered instantly. "I was the first ever to log into Second Life, so the GMs granted me a special request. I requested a gender change."

Gui's mind reeled. "But….but why? Why would you want to play as a male?"

"Because of my stupid brother," Prince answered, pouting childishly, which, coupled with his red cheeks, looked super cute. "I wanted to prove to him that I could be successful in-game without relying on special favors from men because of my looks."

Gui had nothing to say to that. "So…this means….you're really a girl?"

"That's what I already said!" Prince slurred heavily, his eyes drifting shut. Gui leaned back, dumbfounded. Prince was a girl? But who? And how many people knew? Did Wicked know? And more importantly, who was Prince in real life? All these questions raced through Gui's mind, all of them racing forth to be answered. Gui finally opened his mouth to ask a question, possibly to ask of Prince's identity, but Prince had already drifted off to sleep….


	2. Ominous Warnings

_Chapter 2: Ominous Warnings  
_

_Gui_

Min Gui Wen sighed tiredly, pulling his _Second Life_ virtual reality visor away from his face and fiddling with it absent-mindedly as he stared up at his bland, white ceiling. Tossing the visor away with a groan, he mussed his hair roughly until it stood on end as his mind struggled to put the pieces of jumbled information together. He wasn't sure how long he had stayed by Prince's side after he passed out, watching him sleep, trying to connect his face with that of a woman's. He wasn't sure how long he had listened to his loud drunken snores until, with a soft _blip_, Prince's character fizzled out, signaling his retreat from the game. All he knew- the only thing sticking to the deep, dark whirlpool of his mind was one, resounding confession from his sweet Prince.

Prince was female. Prince was _female._

How could he have been so blind? Everything about Prince suggested he wasn't what he appeared, that he wasn't exactly as masculine as he tried to portray himself to be. Of course, considering the blatant rules of the game, Gui had overlooked these details. That wasn't his fault, right? Anyone could've made that mistake….couldn't they? This led to a torrent of questions raging forth in Gui's mind. Did others know, and if so, then who else knew? What if the entirety of Odd Squad knew, and Gui was the last to find out? But what reason would Odd Squad have to keep this from him? All of these unanswered questions made Gui's head spin, and he closed his eyes tightly with another groan.

_I need to get up and stop thinking so much about this before I lose my mind,_ Gui thought to himself, rolling out of bed and stumbling groggily into the bathroom to splash some cold water on his face.

* * *

Gui stood at the front of the class writing the day's lesson on the board as students filed in behind him, a steady murmur rumbling through the classroom as students took the time to socialize before the bell. His mind was still a torrent of confused and jumbled thoughts, no matter how many times he'd tried to clear his mind. He felt as if he were suffocating, drowning in his thoughts of Prince.

The shrill ringing of the bell mercifully brought him out of his reverie, and as he finished writing the lesson on the board, the jumbled murmur of the class died down as the students found their seats. With his typical flourish, he set the chalk down and turned toward the class to greet the students and take attendance.

Two seats were noticeably empty; those of Feng Lan and her brother Yang Ming. _Those two are almost never absent, _Gui thought. Gui leaned over to mark them off on his attendance list when he heard very loud footsteps rumbling down the hall and his door flew open.

Gui narrowed his eyes at the bedraggled student standing in the doorway. "Student Yang Ming, you're late."

Yang Ming gulped in a few breaths and panted out, "Yes sir, sorry sir." Another few panting breaths. "_This _one didn't wanna get up this morning." He jerked his head behind him and moved out of the way to see that he'd indicated his older twin.

Gui sucked in a breath, his eyes widening as he took in Feng Lan's disheveled appearance. Her skin was pale, which made the dark circles under her eyes stand out in stark comparison, and her hair was put up in the standard ponytail, though it was sloppy and mussed. Her clothes were baggy and wrinkled, hanging from her slim frame and making her look tinier. Her normally wide chocolate eyes were narrowed, as if the harsh fluorescent lights were hurting them, and he could almost _see _the headache pulsing in her skull.

"Student Feng Lan, would you like to see the nurse?" Gui stated gently, walking over to place a hand on her elbow. "You don't look so well."

Feng Lan raised tired eyes to his, and a sense of familiarity flashed through him so strongly that, for a moment, all he could do was stare. Those eyes….he recognized those eyes. Something in those eyes hinted at something in the back of his mind, though for the life of him he couldn't figure out what it was. Where had he seen eyes like those before?

"No, thank you, I'm fine, Professor," Gui was snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of Feng Lan's voice, and he startled slightly. With his train of thought forgotten, he looked down at his student.

Gui narrowed his eyes at Feng Lan. "No, I insist. I can not allow you to sit through class when you're so obviously distressed."

Feng Lan sighed, rubbing at her temple with her free hand to alleviate what had to be a painful headache. "Fine, if you think that's best."

Gui nodded his head, satisfied.

Feng Lan shot a tired smile at Gui that made his heart quicken mysteriously. _That's odd, _he thought. Only Prince could make his heart race.

"See you later, Professor Min," Feng Lan replied softly, walking down the hall towards the nurse's office and leaving Gui staring down the hall after her.

_Feng Lan_

"Do you know what caused your symptoms?" questioned Li Tian Lang, the doctor working at XXX University, and also Prince's best friend in-game, Ugly Wolf.

Considering the cause of her symptoms was related to Prince, Feng Lan was hesitant with her answer. "Um, maybe I didn't get enough sleep last night? I was feeling fine yesterday."

"Well, if you'd like, you can sleep in here until you feel better. I can't very well send you home all by yourself when you're so weak and tired," replied Tian Lang, gesturing toward the cot.

"Thanks Wolf n- I mean, Doctor. I appreciate it," Feng Lan stumbled. Crap, another slip. She was sure to give away her identity if she kept this up. She mentally cursed herself for getting so drunk last night, and cursed the game's realism level that caused her to get so hung over in real life. Rubbing her forehead, she staggered toward the cot and gingerly lay herself down, falling into a fitful sleep.

After what only seemed like minutes, she woke to someone pushing gently on her shoulder. She opened her eyes with a groan, only to close them again quickly as the fluorescent lights nearly seared her retinas. Shielding her eyes with a raised hand, she looked over to see Yang Ming standing beside her, nudging her shoulder.

"What time'sit?" she muttered incoherently, squinting at her twin.

"Time to go home, sis. School's over," he replied, worry etched into his features.

Oh, it was that late already? She hadn't realized she'd slept so long. At least her headache was reduced to a dull throbbing. Casting an apologetic glance to Tian Lang, she swung herself off the cot and followed her brother into the hall.

"Hey, I need to stop by the classroom and pick up some assignments from Professor Min. Wait by the entrance for me, 'kay?" Feng Lan said as they entered the corridor, trying not to show how tired she was.

Yang Ming, as usual, didn't put much thought into it, and just threw a careless, "Whatever," over his shoulder as he walked off. _Stupid brother,_ she thought, heading back towards Professor Min's class. The walk back to class seemed to take ages, but she finally found herself at the classroom door that had grown so familiar.

Upon opening the door, she could see that the lights were still on, but nobody was inside. Maybe Professor Min stepped out for a bit? Or maybe he had some emergency he had to attend to. Shrugging her shoulders, she turned to walk back out. She could always call one of her friends to get the assignments she missed.

But something inside the classroom caught her eye. Turning back, she spotted a single slip of paper on her desk. _Did I leave that there? _she wondered. Regardless, it was no good to just leave it there.

Walking toward her desk, she picked up the slip of paper and looked over it. On one side, it was completely blank, but on the other side were a few lines of hastily scrawled text that made her blood run cold.

**_I KNOW YOUR SECRET, YOU LITTLE BITCH._**

**_HOW COULD AN UGLY SKANK LIKE YOU PRETEND TO BE PRINCE?!_**

**_I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS, YOU LITTLE FAKER._**

**_YOU BETTER WATCH YOUR BACK._**

_What the hell?! _Feng Lan thought, rereading the note again and again until she had the words burned into her memory. Who would write this? And who knew about her identity? She couldn't breathe, couldn't think. All she wanted was to get out of this classroom. Headache forgotten, she ran to the door, threw the crumpled note into the wastebasket, and ran for the school entrance as fast as she could.


	3. Shaken to the Core

**Hello, my fabulous readers. I promised myself that this time, I wouldn't take nearly as long as I did to update this story, and I got so wrapped up in writing this that I found I couldn't stop. So here we are, less than a week later, with another update! I hope you all like it, and thank you all so much for your amazing reviews, each and every one of them made me smile so much my cheeks hurt. I hope you like this chapter just as much, and please point out any mistakes that you find and places that I can improve. And leave a review on your way out, I would really appreciate it!**

**_Faolan Rei_  
**

* * *

_Chapter 3: Shaken to the Core_

_Feng Lan_

"Hey, you ok, sis?" asked Yang Ming as he leaned against his sister's bedroom door. She hadn't said a word during their trip home, and had run to her room as soon as they'd walked in the door. "And don't give me that 'Everything's fine' BS," Yang Ming warned, narrowing his eyes at Feng Lan. "Does it have to do with Prince?"

Feng Lan sighed, lying her forehead on her crossed arms as she lay on her stomach on her bed. She had forgotten that her brother knew she was Prince. Sitting up on her bed, she turned to face her twin and stared at him a moment, contemplating. "Do you, um, remember anything last night?" she questioned quietly, but loud enough for her brother to hear. "During, uh, during the party?"

"During the party?" Yang Ming looked surprised. "Don't you?"

Feng Lan could feel her cheeks burning. "I might have….gotten a _little _drunk last night at the party." She sighed, closing her eyes as she prepared herself for what was to come. "I don't remember a thing."

Yang Ming was quiet a moment, and Feng Lan stupidly believed that maybe he wasn't going to respond. But then he burst out laughing.

Feng Lan grimaced. "Shut up! It wasn't my fault!"

"Oh, really?" Yang Ming gasped between bouts of laughter. "Then whose fault is it that my darling sister can't hold her alcohol? Oh, the great and mighty Prince, drunk off his ass! I wish I could have seen it!" Yang Ming clutched at his stomach as he laughed at whatever his sick imagination conjured up for him.

"I bet you were just as drunk as I was!" Feng Lan shouted, grimacing as a spot behind her eyes started throbbing.

Yang Ming grinned, crossing his arms as he stated proudly, "Nope! I remember everything, especially the slew of women who flirted with me all night."

_Yeah, right, _thought Feng Lan, shaking her head at the self-absorbed gleam in her brother's eye. "Just forget it," she sighed, rubbing at her temples.

Yang Ming looked concerned. "What's wrong? What happened during the party?"

"I don't know, Yang Ming. That's why I wanted to ask you if _you _remembered," she reiterated.

Yang Ming held up his hands. "Sorry, sis, I wasn't anywhere near Prince all night."

Feng Lan groaned. She had to find out what happened at the party. Had she accidentally let her identity slip? That would explain the note, but who could have wrote it? The handwriting wasn't anything she recognized, and no one she knew who had knowledge of her identity in-game could have written that note….could they?

"What's this all about, sis?" Yang Ming asked.

Feng Lan sighed. "Someone left me a note today. They know that I'm Prince and they're not too happy about it."

"What did the note say?"

"That they knew my secret and that I should watch my back because they were going to get me for pretending to be Prince."

Yang Ming startled. "We should report this to the police! This person is threatening you!"

"It's not that easy, Yang Ming. I don't even know who this is," Feng Lan pointed out.

"But there's got to be something they can do! We can't just do nothing," Yang Ming argued.

"Until I know who this person is, there's nothing we _can _do," Feng Lan fell back on her bed, covering her face with her hands.

The room was silent a moment, both twins contemplating their situation. At a gentle touch to her shoulder, Feng Lan moved her hands to see that Yang Ming was giving her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, sis. I won't let anything happen to you."

Feng Lan smiled at this surprisingly sweet gesture. "Really, bro?"

"Really," Yang Ming responded with surprising kindness. "Besides, if something were to happen to you, who would I get to cook my meals for me?" Yang Ming smirked, which was quickly erased with a pillow to the face.

_Gui_

"I'm telling you, Wolf-nii. There's something going on here," Gui groaned, resting his elbows on his knees and holding his head in his hands. He'd been pondering that strange reaction he'd had to Feng Lan all afternoon, tearing through the deep recesses of his mind in what turned out to be a fruitless attempt to figure out where in the world he could have possibly seen eyes like those. There was an inner fire in them, despite the fact that she had been so obviously bone-tired and weak, that he just simply couldn't ignore, and it made him crazy to think that there was something there that he was overlooking.

Tian Lang's low chuckle broke him out of his reverie, and he glanced up at the doctor, his eyes narrowing in the slightest. "Are you _laughing _at me?"

"Well, quite frankly, yes," Tian Lang answered good-naturedly, a gleam in his eye as he smirked back at his friend.

Gui scowled. "I hardly see what's so funny."

"Gui, you're over-thinking this," Tian Lang narrowed his eyes and shot Gui a speculative look. "Does this have anything to do with Prince?"

Gui startled, giving Tian Lang a sheepish look. "Was it that obvious?"

"Gui, with you, everything is about Prince," Tian Lang smirked again, crossing his arms as he leaned back against the counter. "What happened this time?"

"It's silly. I don't even know if there's any truth behind it at all," Gui admitted, looking down at his hands.

"Try me," Tian Lang shot back, growing serious.

Gui sighed, looking up at his best friend and comrade. "Ok, but you have to keep this between us," Gui implored.

Tian Lang shot him a look. "Gui, you're my best friend. I wouldn't tell a soul unless you wanted me to."

Gui sighed, giving in. "Ok, ok. Do you remember anything from last night? During the party?"

"Ah, are you talking about when Prince got wildly drunk? I'm pretty sure _everyone _remembers that," Tian Lang chuckled.

Gui grimaced. "This is serious, Wolf-nii!"

Tian Lang sobered, seeing his friend in such a state of distress. "Ok, I'm sorry. Please continue."

Gui nodded, though it was more to himself than to his friend. "After Prince got _wildly drunk,_ as you put it, I escorted him back to the castle to rest. You remember this much?"

Tian Lang nodded, encouraging his friend to go on.

Gui sighed, obviously struggling with what he should say next. "Well, we got back to the castle, though it was difficult with all of Prince's drunken stumbles," Gui said with a slight, fond chuckle. "I got him back up to his room and laid him down on the bed, and I was turning to leave right then, but he grabbed my arm and asked me to stay," Gui said the last part softly, touching the spot where Prince's slender fingers had wrapped around his wrist, almost feeling Prince's warmth touch him once again. "I know it was probably caused by the alcohol coursing through his system, but I just couldn't leave him."

Tian Lang nodded silently. He could see the confusion and hope burning in Gui's striking blue eyes, and he felt himself absorbed in Gui's retelling of the nights events.

"So, I stayed," Gui sighed, rubbing his face with a hand and leaning his head back against the wall. "But Prince started asking questions, questions he'd never broached before, and they unnerved me, to say the least. He seemed- no, he _was_- angry with the fact that I seem to be gay, and he kept asking me why I loved him."

Tian Lang stared at Gui tentatively. "But you're _not_ gay, are you Gui? So, why _is _it that you love Prince?"

"That's the thing, Wolf-nii," Gui said quietly, rolling his head to the side to cast Tian Lang a heavy-lidded stare to gauge his reaction. "Prince told me he is a girl."

Tian Lang looked startled, staring at his friend with wide eyes. "But Gui, Second Life has blatant rules against sex changes in-game. That's not possible."

"I know, I know, I thought that at first, too," Gui said, waving a hand. "But he- or rather, _she_- told me that the GMs granted her a special favor because she was the first player to log into Second Life."

Tian Lang was stunned, to say the least, though some inner part of him had suspected as much. It was hard to ignore the number of girlish mannerisms that constantly pervaded Prince's eccentric personality. But in that moment, his thoughts immediately shifted over to Feng Lan as he mentally pointed out the number of striking similarities between the two. Oh, he was definitely having a talk with the girl sometimes soon.

"So, what do you think it means, Wolf-nii?" Gui whined, closing his eyes.

Tian Lang sighed, shaking his head at Gui's cluelessness. "Gui, for a smart guy, you really can be an idiot sometimes."

_Feng Lan_

Feng Lan found herself dreading the upcoming day at the University. Not only was there that intimidating and not-so-subtle note from the previous day, but there was that inexplicable moment that had passed between herself and Gui, one that she had so carefully avoided telling her brother; the idiot was likely to go blabbing to the whole school about that little tidbit. She felt, with a growing dread in the pit of her stomach, that Gui was coming _very _close to a dangerous revelation, one that would most assuredly change things between them forever. And, she knew, that change wouldn't necessarily be a good one.

Yes, she admitted that some strange, childish part of her brain hoped that Gui _would _realize her true identity as Prince, but she knew what would happen when he did. He would feel hurt, used, his feelings immediately crushed once he knew that his fantasy was truly unattainable. She knew, better than anyone, that Gui felt for Prince and Prince only, and that knowledge seemed to crush some part of her each and every time she felt even the tiniest bit of hope that just _maybe _things could turn out differently. The feelings she'd seen play out on Gui's face that day she'd gone on that date with him proved, better than anything, that it never could.

She sighed, twisting her hair up into it usual ponytail. She could hear Yang Ming down the hall shouting for her to hurry up- they were going to be late again if they didn't leave soon- and she hurriedly grabbed her bag and ran out of the door. "I'm coming, I'm coming!" she yelled to her brother, who was glaring at her from the living room area. She hated to be late just as much as he did, and after their stunt yesterday, she knew neither of them could afford to be anything less than punctual.

"I swear, sis, I'm going to go bald well before my time if you keep making us late like this," Yang Ming griped, walking towards the door.

Feng Lan stuck her tongue out at him, though she hurried along after him as they rushed to be on time to class.

* * *

"Feng Lan!" shouted Zhuo Ling Bin- or, as Feng Lan so affectionately nicknamed him, "Zhuo-gege"- as he saw Feng Lan and Yang Ming approaching the University.

"Zhuo-gege!" Feng Lan shouted back, jogging the rest of the way to the building towards her friend.

"Everything ok?" Zhuo-gege asked, resting a comforting hand on Feng Lan's shoulder as she came to stand in front of him. As her friend, and the one who had been in love with her for 8 years, he immediately knew something was off about her, and he couldn't keep the worried look from his eyes.

"Oh, sure, everything's fine! Why wouldn't they be?" Feng Lan responded breezily, tossing in a small smile for good measure, though it was strained. It just didn't quite reach her eyes, which were wary and unsure.

Zhuo-gege sighed, knowing that, whatever it was now was, not the time to ask when they had 5 minutes to get to class. "Why don't I walk you to your class? You seem tired; I can carry your books."

Feng Lan looked surprised, and then relief flooded her features. "Thank you, Zhuo-gege, that's really kind of you," she said as she handed over her books.

"Anytime, Xiao Lan," he said, using that special nickname that only those closest to her used.

"Yeah, yeah, that's all very sweet," Yang Ming griped behind them. "But can we get a move on before we're all late? I wasn't too fond of the first time, let's not experiment with a second."

Feng Lan scowled at her brother for being so rude, but followed after him and Zhuo-gege regardless. She didn't like the idea of being late, either.

Feng Lan found herself sneaking peeks at Zhuo-gege while he wasn't looking as they walked down the hall. Despite the fact that he risked being late himself, he was carrying her books for her. She forgot sometimes how incredibly sweet and caring Zhuo-gege could be, and how insensitive and careless she seemed for completely overlooking his feelings for her all these years.

"What, do I have something on my face?" Zhuo-gege joked, casting a sidelong look at Feng Lan, who blushed furiously and looked away, which made him laugh a bit.

Feng Lan scowled, despite the light atmosphere Zhuo-gege was striving for. "Don't patronize me," she grumbled, crossing her arms.

"Hey, you know I was only teasing," Zhuo-gege smirked, though he immediately sobered when he found that Feng Lan wasn't smiling back or even smacking him for teasing her. "What's wrong, Xiao Lan? You're not acting like yourself," Zhuo-gege spoke softly.

Feng Lan looked up quickly, shaking her head in an attempt to ward off Zhuo-gege's worried stare. "I told you, nothing's wrong," she said again.

"Now Xiao Lan, we both know that there's something going on. What is it?" he asked again as they approached Feng Lan's class. The bell's shrill tone sounded above them, letting them know that they were officially late to class, making Yang Ming groan and hurry ahead of them to class.

"I'm fine, Zhuo-gege!" Feng Lan shouted, rounding on him as her brother disappeared into class. She grabbed her books from his grasp. "Thank you for carrying my books for me, but you should go. You're already late," she said hurriedly, not meeting his gaze as she turned to enter the classroom.

"Xiao Lan, I'm simply worried about you. You're not acting like yourself," Zhuo-gege called after her.

"I don't need you to worry about me," she called back, knowing that she was being harsh. "I swear, I'm fine, so just leave me alone." She turned around to get into the classroom, only to run into Yang Ming's back. "Oww, idiot brother! What are you doing just standing there?!"

Yang Ming didn't respond, and she looked around his unmoving form, only to gasp at the state of the classroom. Every inch of it was covered in sheets of paper, stacks and stacks of them spread out across the floor, and students wandered around curiously as they tried to pick it up. A pit of dread formed in her stomach as she looked around the class, already forming an idea as to what this was about, and for a moment, she hesitated in picking up one of the sheets to see what it said. Undoubtedly, it was another message for her, though the looks that were cast towards her as the students noticed her entrance caught her like a deer in headlights. Some were boiling with anger, though some wore looks of confusion, and still others were sneering at her. What if this message was more than a simple warning? What if this message revealed her to the whole class? If the whole class knew, it wouldn't take long for the message to spread, and soon the entirety of _Second Life_ would know that the game's most famous player was a fake.

She was jarred from her reverie by a sudden shove at her shoulder, causing her to drop her books, and she realized that Yang Ming was trying to push her back outside the classroom, away from the judging eyes of the classmates but, more importantly, away from those taunting sheets of paper with their poisonous words burning into her without her having seen a single one.

"Wait, Yang Ming! Leave me be!" Feng Lan squirmed from his grasp, suddenly overwhelmed with the need to know what they said, what message was trying to be conveyed to her. But a pair of strong arms grabbed her around the waist and held her fast, and she turned to see Zhuo-gege, who had never once made a move to go to class. She screamed her frustration and twisted, squirmed, thrashed, _anything_ to get out of the strong grip about her waist and torso. But she was reminded once again that she was not Prince, and therefore did not contain his strength.

"What's going on here?!" shouted Min Gui Wen, walking briskly down the hall toward them. In the confusion, she hadn't noticed that he wasn't in the classroom, and she froze all over again under his searing blue-eyed gaze, which quickly turned to panic. What if those letters really _did _reveal her as Prince? Gui was sure to find out about her identity if they did, and she couldn't stand the thought of the face he would turn on her when he did.

But before she could so much as protest, Gui ducked inside his classroom, seeing the piles upon piles of paper that littered the floors. "Who did this?!" he shrieked, looking around at the class, though no one came forward to claim it was them. It wouldn't have mattered if they had, though. Gui was already preoccupied with bending over to pick up a single sheet of paper and turning it over to read the message she could see was scrawled on its face.

Feng Lan's breathing stopped, her heart racing, her mind going blank as she gauged Gui's reaction to the message. What could she expect should the message reveal her as Prince? Shock? Outrage? Sadness? Or, some small, pitiful part of her hoped, joy? She found herself clinging to that small hope that maybe, just _maybe_, he would be true to his word and really accept her, despite the fact that she really wasn't who he thought she was. Although every bit of it was unreasonable in her mind, she clung to it as if her life depended on it.

But then Gui turned back towards her and her heart stopped. His face was set in stone-cold fury, and he crumpled the sheet of paper in his hands angrily as he made his way towards her, scattering students and paper alike in his wake. She felt the first tear fall down her face, and then another, and before she knew it- or could even stop it- she was crying, turning her face away from Gui's, breaking just a tiny bit under the anger in his gaze. _He knows, _she thought despairingly, and he will never accept her, just like her worst fears had predicted. Suddenly, she was grateful for Zhuo-gege's arms around her, for she knew that without them, she would have crumpled to the floor.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Gui asked, suddenly right in front of her, and Feng Lan startled, though she couldn't bring herself to look into his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Gui," she stuttered out, her voice thick with tears. Now that her secret was out, she saw no point in calling him anything other than what she usually called him. "I didn't want to tell you because I knew you would be angry, and I couldn't stand that." A sob broke past her lips, and she bowed her head, almost closing in on herself.

"You didn't want to tell me?" he asked, though his tone wasn't as harsh as she thought it would be. "I should've been the first person you told! Someone is _harassing _you, Feng Lan! And of course, as your teacher, I'm going to be angry, but not at you!"

Feng Lan was surprised at this outburst, and she raised her tear-streaked face to his. So Gui _didn't _know? "Wait, what is the message?" Feng Lan questioned, curious as to why her attackers hadn't openly exposed her yet.

Gui looked taken aback. "You haven't read it?"

Feng Lan shook her head, shooting a pointed look at Zhuo-gege, who still had his arms around her, and her idiot twin, who's eyes were darting warily between Feng Lan and the classroom.

"Professor Min," Zhuo-gege said with an icy tone. "I don't really think it's necessary for Feng Lan to read that message."

"They're about me!" Feng Lan argued, finally squirming out of Zhuo-gege's grasp with a kick and a well-timed twist.

"Student Feng Lan, are you sure you wish to read them?" Gui asked warily, knowing the contents of the message and feeling uneasy himself.

Feng Lan nodded, a hard, familiar determination burning in her eyes that made Gui's heart race. "I'm sure. I have to know what they want with me," she responded, turning back towards the classroom.

Gui nodded back, turning to shot a look at Yang Ming and Zhuo-gege that said, _stay._

Feng Lan took a deep, steadying breath, steeling herself for whatever the message had to say. She could see her friends Jing and Wen looking at her sadly, and she nodded to them for reassurance, although she felt shaky and scared. Slowly, so very slowly, she knelt and picked up a single sheet of paper, turning it over to see that it was longer than the last message, and she perused the bright red text that seemed to scream its contents at her, much like the writer had wanted to do.

**_HELLO AGAIN, FENG LAN._**

**_ARE YOU SCARED, YET? YOU SHOULD BE YOU LITTLE BITCH._**

**_THOSE "FRIENDS" OF YOURS? THEY WON'T LAST, NOT AFTER I'M DONE WITH YOU._**

**_BUT DON'T WORRY. THE FUN IS ONLY JUST BEGINNING._**

**_WE, AND YES, I SAY _****WE****_, WILL BE AWAITING THE DAY_**

**_WE CAN SEE YOU GROVELING AT OUR FEET_**

**_BEGGING FOR OUR FORGIVENESS._**

**_AND FOR EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU WHO KNOW FENG LAN?_**

**_YOU DON'T._**

**_SHE'S A FAKE, LYING WHORE WHO CAN _****NEVER ****_BE TRUSTED._**

**_SEE YOU AROUND, FENG LAN…._**

Feng Lan was shaking so hard she could hardly make out the last line of text, though she, better than anyone, could feel the venom laced within the message. This was no empty threat.

"Student Feng Lan, if you would come with me?" Gui said softly, coming up behind her and placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Feng Lan looked back at him and immediately, her dark chocolate eyes locked with his gentle blue ones, and that feeling from before rushed through her. A feeling like they were the only two people standing in that corridor. And again, that look of recognition flickered through Gui's eyes, and although she knew she should look away, she couldn't bring herself to. It was times like these that she wished desperately for Gui to be straight, for Gui to _not _be desperately in love with Prince. She wished she could tell him everything, to have him look at her the way he so often did to Prince. A familiar ache formed in the pit of her stomach, and she finally managed to tear her eyes away.

Gui, finally snapped out of his reverie, cleared his throat. "So, Miss Lan? Will you come with me to my office?" he asked again.

Feng Lan knew that in that moment, her voice definitely would have trembled like a leaf, so she simply nodded, following after her Professor, not noticing the dark glare Zhuo-gege was casting the dark-haired man. She felt shaken, confused, but thankful that Gui hadn't found out about her identity. That look of complete anger he had shown, that fury in his eyes….she would hate it if they were ever directed at her.

Gui, however, was lost again in his own world as he tread the familiar path to his office absent-mindedly. Once again, he had felt that familiar stirring within him when he had looked into Feng Lan's eyes, seen the determination burning just beneath the surface, the liveliness that made them sparkle and shine. Only this time, he knew where he had seen eyes like those before.

_Prince has those eyes…._


End file.
